Hanwha Aerospace CEO Son Jae-il meets the bereaved families of the victims of the deadly explosion at Hanwha Aerospace's Daejeon facility, gathered at a hospital in Daejeon, Wednesday. Yonhap
Hanwha Aerospace, a defense affiliate of Hanwha Group, said Thursday it will suspend operations at all of its production facilities and conduct special safety inspections following a deadly explosion at its Daejeon facility.
The company said it will halt operations at its nine business sites nationwide for two days starting Thursday, marking the first companywide production shutdown since its establishment.
The explosion at the facility, located about 140 kilometers south of Seoul, on Monday killed five people and injured two others. Police have launched a joint investigation to determine the exact cause of the accident.
The company said it has concluded that securing a safe working environment is a higher priority than avoiding temporary production disruptions caused by the suspension of operations.
The Daejeon plant is a key defense facility and is designated as a secret defense factory. It makes various weapons systems, including the Chunmoo multiple rocket launchers and long-range surface-to-air missiles (L-SAM).
The affected production lines generated 1.32 trillion won ($870 million) in revenue last year, accounting for 4.94 percent of Hanwha Aerospace's total revenue of 26.7 trillion won, according to the company.
Source: Korea Times News
